


Stomach Bug

by meridian_rose (meridianrose)



Category: The Orville (TV)
Genre: 100fandoms on dreamwidth, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Body Horror, Community: 100fandoms, Community: hc_bingo, Episode s01e12 Mad Idolatry, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Procedures, Mild Gore, Season/Series 01, Stomach Ache, Surgery, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019, background Ed & Gordon, implied Kelly/Ed, old school medicine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 11:53:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20891687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meridianrose/pseuds/meridian_rose
Summary: Season 1 episode 12, Mad Idolatry au. Ed visits Bortus and Klyden and drinks the oppsada. However the parasite does not come up, and soon Ed's life is on the line. (Please check out the tags)





	Stomach Bug

**Author's Note:**

> For [Whumptober 2019](https://whumptober2019.tumblr.com/post/187785964678/whumptober2019-october-approaches-and-so-does) #17 "stay with me", the 100fandom prompt 077 bug, and the hurt/comfort bingo prompt "surgery"

Latchkum had been a bad idea. Ed nursed his injured hand as he staggered back to his quarters. Bortus had removed the infernal thing, the blade sliding back into the innocuous looking ball, and when Ed's hysteria didn't immediately cease offered to call Doctor Finn. That had finally got through to Ed. He didn't want Claire knowing what an idiot he was. He was the captain and ought to be setting an example; this was more the kind of stunt Gordon would pull.

So instead they got a bandage from the synthesiser and wrapped Ed's hand and he headed out with a cheerful if sarcastic "Thanks for a great night."

He was going to call Kelly, hope she was awake and willing to borrow a dermoscanner from Claire in a discreet manner. First he needed to throw up.

For what seemed like hours he sat on the floor, leaning over the toilet, fighting nausea and stomach cramps. He didn't vomit, though he was starting to think if he stuck his fingers down his throat and made himself sick he might feel better. He resisted the urge and dragged himself to the bedroom.

"You're up too?" Kelly replied as soon as he called her.

"I can't sleep. I tried spending time with Bortus and Klyden. It didn't go well."

"I see. What happened to your hand?"

"A Moclan game and not something I want on record. Could you borrow a dermoscanner-" Ed broke off as pain shot through his abdomen.

"Ed?"

He heard the worry in Kelly's voice. "Um, yeah, it's..."

He was going to say nothing, but it wasn't true, no matter how hard he wished it were.

He retched, leaning over the side of the bed. He fetched up only bile and it did nothing to ease the pain.

"Ed?"

He wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "Get Doctor Finn," he said and passed out.

*

"Captain?"

Ed forced his eyes open. Claire was leaning over him as they moved him on a hover gurney to Sickbay.

"I've given you something for the pain," Claire said.

"Could have fooled me." Ed fought against another wave of nausea. "It was the op - opps - ask Bortus. It does not come up."

Claire looked to Kelly who was following them anxiously. Kelly called Bortus to meet them in Sickbay.

"Some Moclan drink. It tasted gross. Comes with a parasite," Ed said.

Kelly frowned. "Did you say parasite?"

"It's supposed to be pleasurable." It was definitely not. Ed whimpered as his stomach cramped. It felt as if something was crushing his guts.

He closed his eyes, maybe passed out again, because when he opened his eyes he was in Sickbay. Claire's eyes widened as she ran the scanner over Ed. Bortus arrived.

"Moclan drink, parasite," Kelly snapped at him without preamble. "We need to know what it is."

Bortus took in Ed, writhing in pain, and returned his attention to Kelly. "Oppsadda," he said. "But it does not cause pain."

"Not in Moclans," Claire said. "I'd guess that your digestive system keeps the parasite from growing. In a human however..."

She sent the scanner output to a viewscreen. Kelly covered her mouth. Ed stared at it.

"That thing's inside me? Get it out!"

The bug onscreen had attached itself to his stomach lining and sent out tentacles which had spread into his intestines. Claire pointed to the smaller tendrils. "I can kill it," she said. "But see these? Those are burrowed into the surrounding tissue to take nutrients and these tiny hooks around the edges prevent removal. We have to get it out but it means surgery."

Bortus cleared his throat, looked up from the keyboard he was using on Claire's desk. "When the parasite dies in a Moclan it merely dissolves into a harmless substance easily secreted through our pores. But I have checked all databases for information and the dissolution is highly acidic which can prove deadly to a human host."

"So we can't kill it?" Ed hated the high pitch of his voice but he was terrified.

"I'm sorry, Captain. I had no idea the oppsadda was so dangerous to humans."

"Not your fault. My fault." He should have known better. The parasite sprouted another tentacle, sending another wave of agony through him.

Kelly moved to take his hand, attempting to comfort him. "What do we do?" she asked Claire.

"If we were closer to a planet or starbase with a better medical facility or a surgeon with more experience I'd wait," Claire said. "But the parasite is still growing and if we can't kill it, then it has to stay alive until removal so waiting isn't an option. It will cause irreparable damage before we reach the nearest starbase."

"Then just get it out," Ed begged.

Claire lowered her gaze for a moment before she squared her shoulders. "I need you to know the risks. Because this will require old school surgery, and I've only done this once, in an emergency situation in the field when I had to remove a bullet fragment without access to my foreign object retractor. I'll have to open you up, snip out each of those tendrils, then get to the parasite itself and remove it."

Ed nodded. "I don't care. This is an emergency. Do what you have to. Just please tell me I'll be unconscious while you do it. Because there was this creature burrowed into a cadet's hand when we were on a training mission back at the academy and they couldn't give him anaesthetic without the drugs making the thing mad. He had to watch them dig that thing out."

Claire moved to look over the data Bortus had found. "You'll be unconscious," she assured Ed.

Kelly squeezed Ed's hand. "You'll be all right. And I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay here until it's over."

And then Claire gave him a shot from the electron hypodermic and he knew nothing more.

*

Of all the stupid, reckless, irresponsible things...Kelly was furious with Ed but her anger was borne out of fear. Bortus stayed with her, silently witnessing the aftermath of what he'd unwittingly unleashed. She called Gordon because he deserved to know and while she promised to keep him posted he showed up in shorts and a dressing gown to offer moral support.

If Claire didn't appreciate the audience she didn't mention it. She and Park worked to save Ed, totally focused on their patient and the parasite shown on the viewscreen.

It was brutal to watch. Kelly had seen horrific injuries fixed in moments, projectiles removed with a flash of the foreign object retractor. Claire had grown Gordon a new leg. It was all relatively quick and clean. Most times people didn't even have to take off their clothes.

Yet this surgery required removing Ed's uniform, sterilising his torso, and draping the area before Claire took up a scalpel and made a long incision from the base of Ed's ribs down to and around his navel, stopping just before his groin.

Kelly bit so hard at the inside of her lip she tasted blood. Claire stopped the haemorrhaging from the edges of the surgical incision and prised it wide open with a metal ring, spreading Ed's flesh and exposing his internal organs.

"I'm going to throw up," Gordon muttered.

"Do not," Kelly said, though she felt the same way. "That's an order."

It took two hours for Claire to pull out every tendril, prising out the barbs, cutting back each tentacle and sealing up the intestinal incisions as she went. 

"Damn!" Claire's exclamation startled both Kelly and Gordon. One barb had torn through flesh and nicked an artery. Ed's vitals began dropping as blood poured into his abdominal cavity. 

"Stay with me, Captain," Claire ordered.

"Ed!" Kelly was helpless to do anything but watch.

"Shit!" Gordon rubbed at his face, overcome with emotion.

Park suctioned out the blood while Claire used the dermoscanner to stem the bleeding.

"Come on, Ed. Stay with me," Claire repeated.

"Don't leave me, Ed," Kelly whispered. "Please. Please." Gordon paced anxiously, lost for words.

Finally Ed's vitals stabilised. When Kelly swayed on her feet Bortus put out a steadying hand and she gave him a wan smile, moved to sit down. Gordon joined her with two glasses of water, sipping from his own with shaking hands.

"He's tougher than he looks," Gordon said.

Kelly nodded.

"We're nearly there," Claire said, to Ed, to Park, to her unacknowledged audience. But it wasn't over yet.

The parasite hadn't been bothered by the removal of its tentacles. Possibly it was used to being attacked by a host body and would simply grow new ones given enough time. But when Claire sliced open Ed's swollen stomach there was a definite hiss. Bortus even drew his plasma weapon.

"Sssh," Claire soothed as if calming the creature. Park handed her the hypodermic and she injected the creature. The suckers holding it in place twitched and retracted.

"Now," she said and grabbed for the creature, pulling it free of Ed's body. Park helped, pulling at the remaining tentacles and as it began to dissolve, steam rising from the creature, he and Claire threw the body of the parasite into the prepared container.

There was a long moment of silence as the parasite dissolved into a puddle of acid. Claire tore off her protective gloves, checked for injuries. She and Park were unharmed and a hasty inspection showed her they'd managed to remove the creature without it causing Ed further harm.

Claire checked Ed's vitals. "You're doing great, Captain. Almost over," she said. "We can use the mass tissue regenerator now."

"He's okay?" Gordon asked.

"He'll be fine," Claire said.

Kelly let out a stifled sob and Gordon enveloped her in a brief but welcome hug.

*

"Not even a scar," Claire said, later the next day, running the scanner over Ed's exposed torso as he perched on the edge of the bed. "You were very lucky."

"I have a great doctor," Ed said.

"Flattery won't stop me reminding you to be careful when interacting with alien food and drink."

"Noted. So I'm good to go?"

Claire nodded and he pulled on a t-shirt.

"I'd like it if you went back to your quarters and had some actual sleep," she said. "Anaesthesia is no substitute for natural sleep. You can go back on duty tomorrow."

Ed nodded, reaching for the jacket Kelly had brought him. "Okay."

"This was a traumatic incident," Claire said. "If you need to take some time, you should. Or if you want to talk, I'm here."

"Thank you. I'm fine."

It was a few weeks, after dealing with pressing work matters, before he found himself at Kelly's door after shift. He found that without urgent duties to distract him he was bothered by his near death experience. He needed to know the details before he could move on, needed to process what had happened. And he felt more comfortable exposing his vulnerability to Kelly, who'd witnessed the whole thing herself.

They lay on top of the covers of her bed, Kelly sitting up with Ed lying in her lap as she caressed his hair.

"It would have been a really stupid way to die," Ed said, wiping at the few tears he'd finally shed.

"You've done stupider things," Kelly said gently.

He laughed, held her tightly. "Can I stay here? Just for tonight?"

"Just tonight," she agreed. "You can stay with me. No funny business. Just sleep."

That was the best night's sleep he'd had since the incident and while Kelly insisted they couldn't be together that she gave him this much needed solace gave him a spark of hope and immeasurable gratitude. And if she'd wanted the comfort almost as much as he did after nearly losing him, then it only added to his belief that one day they might find their way back to each other.

**Author's Note:**

> I used the Orville Wiki to try and get some of the terminology right but I couldn't find the correct term for the hover-gurney/stretcher,whatever they used to take Isaac from the ship to his homeworld when he was unconscious. If you know the correct term please let me know! In "Firestorm" the fear of surgery has Claire holding a scalpel rather than something more technologically advanced.


End file.
